Record 043

[HeathRobinson]

I visited the Westonbirt Festival of the Tree yesterday. I must have been quite early as when I arrived there were very few cars and when I left there were plenty of them.

Funny enough they put the used tool stalls directly next door to where I parked the car. Step out of car walk straight into tool stall. I likey.

The first one I visited didn't really have much that got me excited. Though I later returned to find a pair of small bessey F-clamps going cheap and snapped them up. I haven't used F-clamps before and now I love them. I used them a bit last night and compared to my other clamps, most of which require quite a bit of handle turning to adjust, these are very unintrusive. They just get on with their job while I get on with mine.

The next stall I came across didn't seem too promising at first either. That was until I went to the far end of their display and found their stash of planes. A small rust free and complete Record 043 plough plane caught my attention with it's flirtatious glint. Ever the fool, I fell in love right then and there and bought it for a dozen squids. The desire to get home and create beautiful shavings with this plane was severe and dogged me right through John Lloyd and Garret Hack's talks. Only checking for food between my teeth in my reflection in Garret Hack's example planed surfaces was enough to distract me from this plane for a few seconds.

While waiting for Philly's talk to begin I wondered around some more and picked up a couple of lesser odds n ends being very careful to avoid the Tools and Trades Society stall believing, possibly wrongly, that based on their handsome display of planes it'd send me well over the edge into full galootage.

Unfortunately Miss. Robinson then rang up saying she was able to return from work early but needed a lift and, after I'd just spent an enjoyable afternoon out, who was I to ruin her day so sorry I missed your demo Philly.

Here is a pic of the Record 043 with the new, rather thick, fence I made for it last night to replace it's grubby one. I'll probably make another, longer fence soon enough. Having a bit of trouble getting a feel for the blade depth adjustment but other than that she is a real treat.

 

[Alf]

Ah, that should get you freewheeling down the Slope very nicely. Next you want some 7mm silver steel and run it up a pair of short rods.

 

[HeathRobinson]

Thanks Alf, and even more so for publishing the manual for the plane on your website. It was the first thing that came up last night when searching for the correct angles to use on the blades.

Am I correct in thinking I should just about get the blade level with runner of the body and then lightly tap the back of it with a small hammer so that it protrudes just the tiniest amount? At least this is what I've been doing so far. Trying to adjust by hand alone it was a coin toss between mangling the wood or getting no shavings whatsoever.

 

[matthewwh]

That or pop a shim of paper or a feeler gauge under the runner.

 

[Alf]

If the hammer taps suits you, go for it. I tend to do it by hand and eye, but for once the dainty hands wot I have are probably an advantage and I can get in there to hold the cutter and lever cap while I do it. A shim would work okay too. Don't set it up for any finer shaving than you need though; one of the joys of the plough plane is how quickly it can do the job, and you want to avoid taking more passes than strictly necessary.

 

[woodbloke]

Hi Simon...nice. Any thing more than the 043 and you might have had a bit of grovelling to do to Miss Robinson :lol: - Rob

 

[HeathRobinson]

I've just ordered a set of new Ray Isles blades for this little one. Really enjoying it but it's blades do have pitting on the backs which are leading to crumbly looking edges. Funny enough the plane itself is in tip top condition. The lady at the old tool store who answered the phone seemed to know exactly what I was after almost telepathically. Mind reading tool sellers ...

If I am right about this it is truly a dangerous new turn of events on the slope. There is no escape when the sales people start reading our thoughts.